Seven Little Girls
by aslycsi1315
Summary: During a case in Ames, Iowa, a mistake made by a profiler puts a seven year old girl's life in danger.


FBI Supervisory Special Agent Aaron " Hotch " Hotchner stepped onto a small patch of grass slowly, allowing the sound of crunching leaves to echo below him. He heard the labored breaths of the agent behind him; the eerie quietness adding more nerves to the two agents. Hotch put a foot in front of the other, his gun aimed directly in front of him. In his other hand, the light emitting from his flashlight painted a yellow hue onto the dark brown oak trees. There was no sign of whoever they were looking for.

A child was missing because of a mistake that he made.  
>Something that he had missed.<br>He had handed over a little seven year old girl over to a serial killer.

A case had taken them to Ames, Iowa to catch an unknown suspect or unsub, who preyed on little girls ages 3- 7. Seven deaths of little girls had caught the attention of the Behavioral Analysis Unit and the news media. For a small college town, a mass murder of children was big. 

The sudden illness of three of their members- Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia, and Emily Prentiss and the temporary re-assignment to Beijing of David Rossi had left the team down to three; Derek Morgan, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, and himself. Along with the distraction of his six year old son being diagnosed with ADD the previous week and half of his team missing, Hotch was extremely distracted. The only thing that was on his mind was the desire to go home.

After the team had arrived in Ames on a cloudy Monday morning, they conducted interviews, walked through crime scenes and created a profile of the unsub. The Ames police department had found a possible suspect days prior, a drunk named Michael Dannaway, but the man didn't fit the team's profile. Hotch soon convinced the chief of police to release Dannaway back into society and back home to his seven year old daughter Danica. 

Three hours later, Danica's mother called the Ames police department reporting that she found photos and items from the dead little girls.

Items a person would have if they killed the seven little girls.

Before she had called the police, Danica's mother confronted Dannaway about what she had found. Out of anger and fear of being caught, Dannaway took Danica and ran for it.

Now seven hours later, Hotch and Morgan were walking through a wooded area, looking for little Danica. They had found Dannaway's vehicle in a wooded field behind the town's university, Iowa State University. The sight of crimson blood stained towels that they had found in the trunk sickened Hotch. Realistically as Morgan had said, Danica was most likely dead.

Hotch stepped out on to the grey stained bike path and looked up the hill that the bike path led to. Behind him, Morgan let out a sigh and a shiver as he started up the hill. A part of him was angry at Hotch for convincing the Chief to let Dannaway go- his gut had told him that the man was guilty, but as Hotch was the boss, he had no choice, but to follow. But as he watched the Unit Chief's guilt ridden expression on the drive to the field, he felt a hint of empathy towards the man. A profiler always knew that the profile was not always right.

Behind him, Hotch followed Morgan up the path, trying to ignore the shivers passing through his body. The temperature was slowly dropping as nightfall approached the small town. The crumpled leaves began to scatter as the cold September air began to pick up. A chill wind rattled the naked branches of the trees, and the silver mist seemed to emit its own ethereal glow as it  
>thickened in the dark night air.<p>

Embracing the cold, Hotch focused on the ground for any signs of Danica. He noted everything that he walked passed- every branch, leaf, and tree.

_Three orange leaves crumbled at the base of a tree.__  
><em>_Two muddy footprints where Morgan had stepped only moments before.__  
><em>_Two green flats, around the shoe size for a seven year old.__  
><em>

And then he saw it. 

After passing seven little things, _seven insignificant things_, he found what they were looking for. 

Under a tall oak tree laid little Danica, wrapped in her father's arms. Hotch could see a bullet hole in the child's chest and a bullet hole in Dannaway's head.

_Murder suicide._

At the sight of the bodies, Hotch let out a gasp which caught Morgan's attention. Morgan walked over to Hotch's side and when he saw the bodies, he put his gun in his holster and let out a curse. Hotch stood where he was, allowing shock, guilt and disappointment take over. As Morgan sent up a flare to alert Ames police officers of what they had found, Hotch's eyes fell on the rainbow cloth bracelet that was dangling from Danica's wrist.  
>Such a beautiful item- a rainbow, known to bring peace and happiness, couldn't even protect the little girl.<br>He had failed her. 


End file.
